Let's Dissect a Blog - Part 3: The Power of RSS Feeds

This is part of an ongoing conversation, pulling apart (and putting back together) these web sites called "blogs."

Along the right sidebar, there is an orange button and an email form. Both of these allow you, the reader, to "subscribe" to content updates of this site.

The orange button has become an industry standard for RSS Feed (definition) enabled sites. We are seeing it in sites such as Wall Street Journal and The Weather Channel, within newer internet browsers such as Firefox and IE 7.0, and many university and educational sites.

So what is RSS? It's the Really S imple Syndication of content published on the web. When I write something on this site, I publish it online via my blogging software. Since my blog site is powered by RSS, the content also gets published and sent to subscribers of my "RSS feed."

Here is a short video explaining RSS feeds in simple terms:

Click To Play

There are several ways to use RSS in education.

• Research: You or your students can subscribe to terms and phrases important to your current of long-term work. Use the feeds in both Google Blogsearch and Google News.
• Blogs and News Sites: Most sites are now powered by RSS feeds, and many have different feeds for different sections.
• Wiki sites. If your class doesn't extend the project work and discussion outside the classroom or off campus, maybe you should. Most Wiki tools (I use PBWiki) offer RSS feeds so everyone can keep up with the updates.

What other ways are you (thinking of) using RSS feeds in your work?

Other resources:
- Search Once and Subscribe
- How to Subscribe to Feeds
- RSS Might Change Your Life
- Why Use RSS Feeds?

New Here? Want to never miss a post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get each post delivered right into browser or email. Thanks for visiting!

Comments

[Daniel Sitter, Idea Seller]

You did a great job packaging this information concerning RSS and describing what it does Angela. You offered a nice multi-media approach, making it more easily digestable, especially for those who are more technically challenged. Keep up the good work! (It takes a special sort of person to teach middle-schoolers.)

[Angela Maiers]

As a new blogger myself,I know all the tools and details of the web can be very confusing. If I can break it down so it makes sense to me, I am hoping that it will make sense to others. Thanks for the great feedback!